Posts Tagged ‘Nir Barkat’

Arsonists damaged a Greek Orthodox seminary in Jerusalem’s Old City in the pre-dawn hours Thursday, and spray-painted anti-Christian graffiti.

No one was injured, and damage was minimal.

A Greek Church archbishop said two people who hid their faces three a flammable liquid at a bathroom in the seminary, located on Mt. Zion (Hat Tzion).

He said there have been previous threats from people whom he described as religious Jews.

Newspapers in the United States carried a report of the fire, which further blackens the image of Israel and of Orthodox Jews.

Another attack, this time on a mosque in Judea and Samaria, was reported Wednesday.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat vigorously condemned the apparent arson attack and said, “There is no room for such deplorable activity in Jerusalem. We must eradicate this behavior and bring those responsible to justice.”

The parents of two of three Israeli teens kidnapped and murdered by Hamas last summer will join a UJA-Federation of New York Jewish Unity event Thursday.

Also appearing at the event will be Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Emeritus Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom.

Racheli Fraenkel, the mother of Naftali Fraenkel, and Ofir Shaer, the father of Gilad Shaer, the parents of two of the Israeli teens who, along with Eyal Yifrach, were murdered by Hamas, will speak at the event, dedicated to the unity prize,

The Jewish Unity Prize was conceived in partnership with the families of the three boys and the Jerusalem-based organization Gesher as a way to perpetuate the spirit of unity across Israel and around the world during the days following the boys’ kidnapping.

“We feel an obligation to ensure that the personal pain that we have experienced be channeled for the betterment of people all over the world and this is what we all hope this prize will accomplish,” said Shaer.

“Out of the intense pain of the boys’ tragic deaths came remarkable unity, in large part due to the strength and leadership exhibited by their families,” added Barkat, who has been one of the driving forces behind the Unity Prize. “We know that unity is a central value in our identity as a people and this prize will afford us the chance to advance these ideals across Israel and around the world.”

The Jerusalem Unity Prize will be presented in three separate categories, each with a prize of up to $25,000. A committee chaired by Barkat, the parents of the three boys, and dignitaries from Israel and the Diaspora will choose the winners.

One of Britain’s most influential Jewish journalists, Jewish Chronicle editor Stephen Pollard, said on Friday, “Every single French Jew I know has either left or is actively working out how to leave.” Pollard’s comment came shortly after French police had ordered shops along Rue de Rosiers in the famous La Marais Jewish neighborhood to close in central Paris. The measure was taken as a precaution following the terror attack on the Hyper Cacher kosher grocery that left four people dead and others injured.

More than 100,000 French Jews have left the country since 2013, according to sources quoted by The Daily Mail. Pollard said in a tweet that the attack on Hyper Cacher was no “fluke.” He wrote in a series of posts on the Twitter social networking site, “So, it’s a fluke that the latest target is a kosher grocer, is it?

“What’s going on in France – outrages that have been getting worse for years – put our antisemitism (sic) problems in perspective,” he wrote.

The Jewish Agency for Israel, meanwhile, has told its staff to prepare for a wave of French aliyah. Chairman of the Executive of the Agency, Natan Sharansky accompanied Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to the unity rally in Paris on Sunday. “The Jewish Agency embraces the French Jewish community at this difficult time and is extending its full support by helping provide for the physical security of Jewish communities across France, increasing our assistance to any individual who wishes to immigrate to Israel, and working to ease immigrants’ integration into the Israeli workforce and Israeli society,” he said.

There were 7,000 new immigrants from France in 2014, more than double the 3,400 who arrived in 2013 and triple the 1,900 who came in 2012, Sharansky noted. The French Jewish community is the third largest in the world after Israel and the United States, with some 500,000 Jews; but more than one percent of the entire community immigrated to Israel last year.

Even before last week’s reign of terror, Jewish Agency officials had predicted that the increase in French aliyah would continue, and that the number of immigrants from France could reach up to 10,000 in 2015. In the past year, at least 50,000 French Jews inquired about immigrating to Israel, according to Sharansky. The Jewish Agency is currently holding two information seminars daily in France, he added. They are leaving, he said, and “they want to live in a Jewish state.”

The Fund for Emergency Assistance to Jewish Communities, established following the 2012 attack on the Jewish elementary school in Toulouse, has provided Jewish communal institutions in France and elsewhere with the means to install and reinforce security measures where they are needed most, in order to also enable Jewish communal life to continue uninterrupted.

At a rally at Jerusalem City Hall to show solidarity with the French people and the French Jewish community on Sunday, Barkat said, “Brothers and sisters – the gates of Jerusalem are open to you. Zion and the entire Jewish world stands beside you. Nous sommes tous Juifs de France, we are all Charlie, we are all Jews of France.”

The Jerusalem Municipality, under the directive of Mayor Barkat, will open a special situation room for new immigrants from France in order to assist them in their move to Jerusalem. At the entrance to City Hall, there is a special booth for immigrant absorption manned by French-speaking volunteers who will help the immigrants with all of their absorption needs.

As the winter weather slowly winds its way towards the Holy Land, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu gathered officials in Jerusalem on Tuesday to review final details and preparation for the anticipated storm.

Meeting in Jerusalem City Hall on January 6 were, among others, Mayor Nir Barkat and Jerusalem District Police Commander Moshe Edry, as well as representatives of the IDF, social welfare institutions, the Israel Electric Corp. and rescue services.

“We have three missions. The first is to save lives. The second is to ensure the continuity of essential services. The third is to provide mutual assistance and guarantee – residents helping residents.

“Beyond what the state is doing and will do, beyond what the municipalities are doing and will do, I ask the citizens of Israel to watch out for their neighbors and to help. The people of Israel excel at this.”

Last year’s storm found motorists scattered around on major arteries leading to the capital because numerous Israelis were curious and “wanted to see the snow.” This year officials are nipping that risk in the bud, and have announced that all major roads leading to the city will be shut down on Wednesday morning, when the storm is expected to hit the city.

The Max Rayne Hand in Hand School in Jerusalem was set ablaze late Saturday night in what appears to be an anti-coexistence hate crime.

The school, which has branches in several locations throughout Israel, provides bilingual and multicultural education for Israeli Jews, Muslims and Christians.

The school was started in the late 1990’s, with one grade. The idea was embraced by the parents and students and eventually spread to having pre-school through 12th grades and several branches.

The Jerusalem branch, located in southern Jerusalem, near Beit Safafa and the Pat neighborhoods, has 620 students, split roughly 60 percent Arab and 40 percent Jews. Staffing is split roughly 50-50. In the younger grades the classes are jointly taught by a Jewish teacher and an Arab teacher.

The school was set ablaze Saturday evening. The Israeli police concluded, based upon their initial investigation, that the fire was set from inside the school.

No injuries were reported and although the fire was successfully extinguished by emergency fire crews, at least one classroom was badly damaged.

Graffiti was reportedly found on walls inside the school, with messages such as “you can’t co-exist with cancer,” “enough with assimilation,” and “death to Arabs,” according to the Jerusalem Post.

This summer, during Operation Protective Edge, anti-Arab graffiti was also found on the school. The response was to immediately address what happened in classes. The students responded by making a poster that said Jews and Arabs can be partners.

“When relationships between the two communities are, at a national level, particularly tense, this tension comes to the school. So then we as a school have to support the children and parents in the hostile environment,” Rebecca Bardach, Hand in Hand’s director of resource development and strategy told the Canadian Jewish News during a visit to Toronto this summer.

Rebecca Bardach, Hand in Hand’s director of resource development and strategy – See more at: http://www.cjnews.com/israel/israeli-schools-promote-jewish-arab-co-existence#sthash.JT1m3lqJ.dpuf

Rachel Azaria, the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem came to school and said: “Harming this school is a horrific crime perpetrated by people who want to destroy any place that creates real cooperation between Jews and Arabs despite our fears and differences. We will not let them do this. The municipality of Jerusalem fully supports the school and we will ensure their continued to work.”

Hand in Hand CEO Shuli Dichter responded: “This is not the first time that our shared civic endeavor has been targeted. Even when they stain our school walls, they will not succeed in destroying our work. In addition to strong condemnations and expressions of support, we invite the Israeli public to join us in building civic cooperation among Jews and Arabs in Israel. We will continue to grow and develop our educational and social structures, where 1200 students, 200 teachers, and thousands of community members come together every day.”

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat demanded that the international community to strongly condemn this horrific act,” referring to the massacre by eastern Jerusalem Arab terrorists of Jews praying at a Har Nof synagogue Tuesday morning.

“Jerusalem bows its head in pain and sorrow on this difficult morning. Jerusalem residents peacefully praying in a synagogue in the heart of Jerusalem were cruelly slaughtered in cold blood while wearing their prayer shawls,” Bennett said in a statement.

“I promise Jerusalem residents that we will continue to fight terror with full force and we will do everything in our power to restore peace and security to Jerusalem.

“I call on Israel’s national government and security forces to provide Jerusalem with all of the support necessary to fight terror.

“We will not surrender to terror. We will stand strong and defend our city from those who try to disturb the peace of our capital.”